Book Review: The Departing Point

Not many authors write with a mission; a mission to make people aware of the social issues in the form of fictions which eventually make you think of life and society as they are. Santosh Avvannavar’s pen always speaks differently and, every emotion affecting human life comes to life with his words. In his last book, Black, Grey & White, he tried to build up awareness towards the AIDS patients and, he spoke up against shunning of AIDS victims.

This time Santosh Avvannavar has joined hands with Jyothi Byahatti and Raghunath Babu Are to come up with The Departing Point, a book that tells tales of love but, in a different way.

Love has too many faces and, of course, disguises. Some say love is nothing but a hormonal reaction (read imbalance), others refute this biological approach by referring love as ultimate bliss. Whatever it is, one thing is hugely accepted that love is something that gives you a feeling of oneness with your partner; it is a journey together. But what when love fails to reach a destination? Will one enjoy the journey or mourn its failure? The Departing Point caters us with seven such unconventional love stories. The stories in which two hearts start a musical phrase but somehow the final cadence remains unachievable.

The first story, “My Last Letter”, shows us how the apparently glamorous world of the silver-screen makes one’s life a fake one. So full and resplendent from outside but empty and fiddling from the inside and, how one fails to identify the true love of life when deluded by the dazzle of the glam world.
The second one “Derailed-Salem Express” presents a college romance in a hilarious manner. The SWOT Analysis of the potential girlfriends and, the way the hero marks each and every girl of the college, make me smile.
“Julie Loves Me” has a different note, of love found and love lost while all the labour goes awry in between.
“Checklist Love” and “My Cinderella” both are stories about whims of women and the way they sometimes use men as their playthings (harsh reality).

I like the sixth story most, “Open and Closed Love”. It depicts the age-old fact that one can love only for love’s sake and nothing else matters. Love because you feel compelled to love, that it makes you happier and, always respect the willingness of your partner in the relationship.

The last one, “Na Paki na Gulab Nadir ko Baksh do Janab” is in the form of a play and has some beautiful excerpts of shayaris.

All the stories, as a whole, gives you a feeling of incompleteness in love and, rightly serves the tagline of the book,”two people departed, in search of love, leaving love in between”.

The language is simple, the authors have kept in mind that the stories can be read and understood by the mass. The Departing Point is a short, simple, and nice read. The decent cover design by Fabiola Bonghi is also quite appreciable.

Love one of the greatest enigmas, it is fascinating to see so many sides contained in one book. Rather than give slowly realise the complexities of love it shows them in one book and that can only serve to make it more powerful.